$pilt milk

We are always watching for Wolfville in the news and it has been there more often than not, thanks to our mayor who must have contacts at the CH and CBC or something. Wonderful Wolfville made the front page this time. The mayor would be pleased.

In most cases, prices were highest in the far North. But Nova Scotians pay among the highest prices for milk in Canada, more than double what a Vancouver resident would pay.

Inside this province, grocery shoppers in Wolfville and Halifax spent $30 more on the same list of items as a person in Sydney.

So in spite of being a “fair trade” town we are touted as one of the most expensive places to eat in NS (and NS is one of the most expensive places to eat in Canada apparently).

Spilt milk in Wolfville, if this story is to be believed, is more of a tragedy here than, say, in Amherst. 4l of 1% white stuff -we are told- is 25cents more expensive here than there and in Sydney. Missing from the story is what folks pay in other Valley stores such as Kentville, Berwick, or Hantsport, and whether the purchases in the story were made at the Save Easy, Muddy’s, Walmart, Sobey’s, the Quickway, Atlantic Super Store, or at a variety of the above establishments.

We hear our local Save Easy franchisee (and new Town Councillor) is pretty steamed at the free advertising. Especially on top of a rather nasty flyer (motivation unknown) that went round a few weeks ago comparing his pork chop prices to Atlantic Super Store chops . We didn’t pick up on that story -juicy as it seemed- because it was so clearly flawed. The receipts displayed compared oranges and apples ie. Atlantic Super Store seasoned chops with Save Easy unseasoned chops, and we all know the seasoned chops are injected with salt water to make them heavier, and look plumper. No wonder they are cheaper.

All this said, Save Not so Easy prices are more expensive than Super Store prices. Why this should be so is one of the mysteries of the world. Ask Loblaws who set the prices for the Save Easy franchises. Another mystery is why Amherst, Porter’s Lake , Barrington Passage, Upper Tantallon and Sydney have Super Stores while Wolfville and Kentville, among other towns, have the more expensive Save Easys. And reading the comments at the end of the CH story indicate that price discrepencies ( and the role of the marketing boards ) are a mystery and more than an irritant to many Nova Scotians.

Perhaps our town worthies should petition the town to demand a Super Store here in Wolfville. After all we rate the front page of the CH.

Later:

Check out the Heart and Stroke map for more comparisons across Canada- although Wolfville didn’t make the map [why is that if it was in the CH? Another mystery.] You can also download prices for the whole province. Another mystery- why is peanut butter cheaper here than the national average? Actually a number of items are cheaper in NS than the national average. Torontonians seem as baffled by the differences as we are.